Call centres often employ a large pool of staff in order to meet the needs of their customers. Yet there are small call centres with only a hundred employees, a smaller scale that has its share of benefits.
Humark Telecom is the perfect example of a small call centre. Founded in 2013 in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the company now also has an office in Montreal. In all, about 60 people are employed by the call centre… including 27 telephone operators. They manage about 250 clients, such as car dealers and funeral homes. The main service is management of incoming calls for companies that need to replace their receptionist or that have an overflow of calls.
“The goal is really to offer the best customer service. For these, we have to be versatile and offer personalized service to each company,” explains Sébastien Roy, president and founder of Humark Telecom. With time, the services have expanded towards outgoing calls, mainly for sales or customer loyalty for private companies.
Advantages… and a disadvantage of working in a small call centre
What is the advantage for an employee to work in a small call centre? “Aside from a salary which is a little higher than average, employees here have to provide personalized service to the customers and carry out the files from A to Z,” explains Sébastien Roy. “In addition, the telephone operators work in teams a lot, which creates a good sense of belonging.” As well, the quality of service maintains the quantity, and employees are not bound to a volume of calls as high as in other places.
For the customers, there is certainly the benefit of knowing exactly who answers the calls, since they are paired with the telephone operators and can contact them if necessary. “It is a more high-end service, since we are aiming for a clientele that is not looking for the lowest price but for added value and the best experience, both in technical and human terms,” the founder of the small call centre adds.
This is in fact the main drawback of the size of the company, which other companies of similar size are experiencing – the search for clients of the right size. By having fewer staff, refusing the largest customers is not a choice. A happy problem!